A project by the Metro Districts’ Parks and Open Space staff is
going to change this anonymity.
In 1879, Austrian native Johanne Welte and his brother-in-law
Plaziduo Gassner purchased a piece of property miles south of
Denver, moved their families there and established a dairy ranch.
Here at the Big Dry Creek Cheese Ranch, named after the nearby
gulch, these two pioneers produced highly renowned butter and
cheese. People from Denver would hitch up a wagon or buggy and
spend a day traveling to the ranch for a picnic of bread, cheese
and beer. Nowadays, this trip might take 30 minutes, but in the
late 1800s, it was an all-day excursion to get from Denver to the
Cheese Ranch and home again.
Historical accounts say that it was well worth the trip because
Welte and Gassner made some of the finest cheese and butter in
Denver.
By By: Tamra Monahan
There is a place in Highlands Ranch that was once renowned in
the Denver area for making cheese and brewing beer, but very few
residents know of its existence because almost all traces of it
were demolished.
A project by the Metro Districts’ Parks and Open Space staff is
going to change this anonymity.
In 1879, Austrian native Johanne Welte and his brother-in-law
Plaziduo Gassner purchased a piece of property miles south of
Denver, moved their families there and established a dairy ranch.
Here at the Big Dry Creek Cheese Ranch, named after the nearby
gulch, these two pioneers produced highly renowned butter and
cheese. People from Denver would hitch up a wagon or buggy and
spend a day traveling to the ranch for a picnic of bread, cheese
and beer. Nowadays, this trip might take 30 minutes, but in the
late 1800s, it was an all-day excursion to get from Denver to the
Cheese Ranch and home again.
Historical accounts say that it was well worth the trip because
Welte and Gassner made some of the finest cheese and butter in
Denver. Eventually, Welte deeded the ranch to his son-in-law Philip
Renner and cheese production continued until 1938. In 1943, the
property was sold to Lawrence Phipps Jr. and became part of his
Highlands Ranch.
Unfortunately, all that is left of the historic Big Dry Creek
Cheese Ranch is the windmill.
This windmill dates from 1917 and originally had moving parts,
but weather and time have transformed it into a stationary windmill
statue. Metro Districts Parks and Open Space Manager Bill Dailey
said this type of windmill requires a great deal of maintenance to
keep the moving parts working and until now, there was no reason to
do so.
But history is about to come alive again because a newly rebuilt
vintage windmill will replace the existing one and it will actually
work, with the wind keeping a pump running that aerates an adjacent
pond. Dailey said this was one of the jobs of windmills at the turn
of the century which were built to pump water into watering holes
out on the range for cattle.
Although there are no cattle using the Cheese Ranch watering
hole (or pond), the Metro District felt that using the windmill to
pump oxygen into the pond was a way to pay tribute to the
community’s past and bring an aspect of the historic Cheese Ranch
alive for current and future generations.
“This pond needs more oxygen to keep it cleaner and smelling
better and we explored just putting a modern electrically driven
pump in, but we felt that it wasn’t consistent with the history of
the area,” Dailey said. “The other piece is an educational
component. Sixty years ago, windmills dotted our countryside, but
now they don’t because the advent of electricity took this away
from us. This is a way to let kids see a part of how ranches worked
in the past.”
The new Cheese Ranch windmill actually isn’t new. Dailey found a
man in Kansas who restores old windmills and brings them back to
life. The man was willing to take the old Cheese Ranch windmill as
a $2,300 down payment on his restored, working model, which will
cost $5,800. The total cost for the project, including the
windmill, pump and a new stand, is $10,700. The Metro Districts’
contribution is the $2,300 from the old windmill. All the other
money will come from grants and contributions.
Barbara Pierson, who lives next to Cheese Ranch Park on
Sugarstone Circle, is spearheading a community drive to raise money
for the windmill project. She and her neighbors are excited about
the educational opportunities the new working windmill will offer
adults and kids. When residents visit Cheese Ranch Park, they will
be able to watch a real windmill in action just as it was a hundred
years ago on that very spot.
This is exciting for Pierson, who mourns the loss of the actual
Cheese Ranch and sees the windmill as a way to bring a small part
of this historic ranch back to life.
“This park is a gathering place where several neighborhoods come
together in an educational, environmental and historical setting
that can be enjoyed and appreciated by all ages,” she said. “We
endorse all aspects of the Windmill Renovation Project,
specifically the windmill renovation, which brings educational and
historic perspectives.”
In addition, Pierson said there is a lot of community support
for the pump, which will clean up the pond and make it a more
pleasurable place to visit. Dailey hopes to get enough money to
complete the project next spring and have the windmill up and
running by the end of April.
“The aeration of the pond will have long-lasting environmental
benefits for all to enjoy for many years to come,” Pierson
said.
Contributions to purchase the windmill are tax deductible
because they go to the Highlands Ranch Historical Society, and can
be sent to Highlands Ranch Historical Society, Purpose: Cheese
Ranch Windmill Renovation, Attn. Elaine Frasher, 9425 S. Autumn Ash
Place, Highlands Ranch, 80126.